Coventry won the race to succeed Thomas Bach and will be the first African to become head of the International Olympic Committee.
Kirsty Coventry broke through the glass ceiling of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to become the first woman of the organization and the first African president in her 130-year history.
Zimbabwej swimming is a great, already high figure in Olympic circles, he appeared winning on Thursday in the race to replace Thomas Bach, securing a top job at the World Sport -UI, launching a new era for games.
“It’s a really powerful signal,” she smiled when a victory sank. “It is a signal that we are truly global and that we have developed into an organization that is really open to diversity and we will continue.”
Coventry only needed one round of voting to racing the race to inherit Bach, winning the immediate total majority in the secret ballot with 49 of the 97 votes available.
She beat runner-up Juan Antoni Samaranch JR and the Spaniard won 28 votes. The British Sebastian Coe, which is considered one of the lobby in the days that led to voting, was third with eight votes.
The remaining voices went to French David Lappartient, Jordan’s prince Feisal Al Hussein, Swedish Johan Eliasch and Japan Morinari Watanabe.
“This is not just a great honor, but a reminder of my dedication to each of you that I will lead this organization with so much pride,” the brilliant Coventry told his colleagues IOC members of the luxury sea resort in the Greek southwestern Peloponnez, hosted by Seanse IoC.
“I will do you all very, very proud and hope that he is extremely confident in the choice you have brought today, thank you from the heart,” she added.
Coventry said she wanted to gather all the candidates.
“I’ll sit with President Bach. We’ll have a few months to take over the handover. And what I want to focus on is a gathering of all the candidates. There have been so many good ideas and exchange in the last six months.
“Look at MOO both our Olympic Movement and Family and decide how to go forward in the future. What do we want to focus on in the first six months? I have some ideas, but part of my campaign was to listen to Moo members -to hear what we have to say and hear how we want to go together.”
Coventry was just the second candidate ever advocating for the MOO Presidency, and the first had a real opportunity to win him, said Andrew Richardson Al Jazeera, reporting from Greece.
“Thomas Bach put her in a series of positions within MOO to try to provide her with the best platform for displaying her diplomatic and administrative skills, and she progressed very quickly through the ranks,” Richardson said.
“Keep in mind that this is an organization that has not only had its first female president. Until 1981, there were no female MOO members, so it was truly a breakthrough for the International Olympic Committee.”
